UF notebook: Volleyball to host NCAA opening rounds

Monday

Nov 29, 2010 at 7:41 PM

It has been a record-setting season for the top-ranked Florida volleyball team, but starting Friday in their first-round NCAA Tournament match against South Carolina State, the Gators' gaudy 27-1 overall record, 20-0 SEC mark, 22-match winning streak and No. 1 seeding for the first time in school history will mean nothing.

By Jim HarvinCorrespondent

It has been a record-setting season for the top-ranked Florida volleyball team, but starting Friday in their first-round NCAA Tournament match against South Carolina State, the Gators' gaudy 27-1 overall record, 20-0 SEC mark, 22-match winning streak and No. 1 seeding for the first time in school history will mean nothing.“There was a great sense of accomplishment Friday (a win in the final regular-season match against South Carolina), but right now, there are sixty-four teams, and everybody's record is zero and zero,” said coach Mary Wise.“In all honesty, I think you could have made an argument for six or seven teams to be the number one seed in this tournament. I think the fans are going to love this. It makes for an incredibly exciting tournament. There are so many great players across the country that you just can't draw up your bracket and think it's going to go as predicted.”UF will have the luxury of playing at home in rounds one and two. The Gators will take on S.C. State (17-22) Friday at 7:30 p.m., after Florida State (21-10) and Georgia Southern (27-8) get things started at 5 p.m. The two winners will meet Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with a regional semifinal berth on the line.“We're happy because it gives us a chance once again to play in the O'Connell Center with great crowds all weekend,” Wise noted. “It's one more chance to see this team at home.”Single-session tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students and senior citizens, and $4 for children 12 & under, while ticket packages for both days of action are $10 for adults, $6 for students and senior citizens, and $4 for children 12 & under. UF's matches will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 850 AM.

Coming off an impressive 3-0 week capped by her team winning the tournament title at the Dead River Company Classic in Orono, Maine, coach Amanda Butler knows there is no time to celebrate with perennial power Old Dominion (3-1) coming to the O-Dome for a nonconference game tonight at 7.Close games have been the rule thus far for UF, with all six contests having been decided by 10 points or less.“It was a really big week for us, a lot of game experiences to learn from, and thankfully we were able to win all those games," said Butler, whose young team has posted a 5-1 record to date. “All of those games were really close, but again, that's the only way this team is going to get better is to be in some of these situations that we can't recreate in practice.”Tickets for tonight's clash, which will be carried live on WXMY-FM 99.5 "The Star," are $5 for reserved seats, $4 for adult general admission and $2 for children 17 & under. UF and Santa Fe College students are admitted free with ID.UF will head back to the Northeast in search of another tournament title this weekend when the Gators travel to Providence, R.I., for the Brown Bear Classic. UF will take on Providence Saturday at 4 p.m. before playing host Brown Sunday at 2 p.m.

Coming off a tremendous year which saw the Gator men's program win the 2010 NCAA Indoor title as well as the SEC Outdoor crown and the UF women claim the SEC Indoor trophy, coach Mike Holloway is excited to see his respective squads get their 2011 seasons underway.The first indoor meet will be Jan. 15 at the Nittany Lion Challenge in University Park, Pa., hosted by Penn State.“We're very excited. There's a lot of enthusiasm around the program right now coming off arguably the best year in the program's history,” Holloway said. “The main thing we're actually trying to do is be cautious and not be overconfident about what went on last year. This is a new year and a new beginning, and what we've got to do is focus on the task at hand.“We kind of snuck up on some people last year. We're not going to sneak up on anybody this year. What we have to do is maintain the focus and the drive and take care of the minor details that helped us be champions last year.”